For a guy who is in charge and makes over $1 mil in total compensation, Pat Mac sure sounds rather helpless. Its like he knows he has little chance of success and is just riding it out as long as he can.

For a guy who is in charge and makes over $1 mil in total compensation, Pat Mac sure sounds rather helpless. Its like he knows he has little chance of success and is just riding it out as long as he can.

If tennis players got paid better, meaning good income generation not limited to the top players only, then maybe the school thing will help. Will increase the talent pool beyond just the rich kids. Otherwise, does not matter. Why would one go for tennis knowing the chances of making money is very small? You at least have several kids winning the lottery by being drafted every year in team sports. Better for schools to use their money on education. Unless USTA funds it which won't happen.

As a "side job" I coach the local HS tennis team. Football, Basketball, Baseball, Soccer, Wrestling and Volleyball have (brief) Middle School seasons.

Not so for Tennis.

I get only the kids who don't like those other sports to tryout for the tennis team. Patrick McEnroe is correct. The USTA should work with high schools; not against us.

Jr. Team Tennis is a USTA program. It *does* help our high school teams ... but we still have to wait for a kid to decide he/she doesn't like soccer or baseball before we get them in the JTT program. It would be great if the USTA were more supportive of Elementary and Middle School tennis programs.

If tennis players got paid better, meaning good income generation not limited to the top players only, then maybe the school thing will help. Will increase the talent pool beyond just the rich kids. Otherwise, does not matter. Why would one go for tennis knowing the chances of making money is very small? You at least have several kids winning the lottery by being drafted every year in team sports. Better for schools to use their money on education. Unless USTA funds it which won't happen.

Click to expand...

That's one of the biggest problems in tennis, it's too top heavy. (money wise)
Serena just won 1.9 million, drop in the bucket for her, but lotto money to the 100th ranked player.
Futures, challengers need to drastically offer more money, many players on those tour lose money.

Great article, when I played high school tennis in the 70's, (before prop. 13, cut funding to California public schools) we were provide equipment, uniforms for making the team. Now, I had to pay $700 plus uniform costs for my child to play on the high school team...

That's one of the biggest problems in tennis, it's too top heavy. (money wise)
Serena just won 1.9 million, drop in the bucket for her, but lotto money to the 100th ranked player.
Futures, challengers need to drastically offer more money, many players on those tour lose money.

Click to expand...

Not sure it is the prize money at the top. In fact, that makes more chase the prize. The Lotto hits $300 million and many more play it. Make it $1 million to 300 people.....fewer would play. I saw a good increase of girls coming to lessons when it was first reported Sharapova was making $25 mil in endorsements after her Wimbledon win at age 17.

Now if you want to say the USTA should use the crazy salaries it pays to many worthless people, and money wasted on high performance, to instead hold more decent paying future tournaments where US players are given plenty of access, then we are on to something.

Not sure it is the prize money at the top. In fact, that makes more chase the prize. The Lotto hits $300 million and many more play it. Make it $1 million to 300 people.....fewer would play. I saw a good increase of girls coming to lessons when it was first reported Sharapova was making $25 mil in endorsements after her Wimbledon win at age 17.

Now if you want to say the USTA should use the crazy salaries it pays to many worthless people, and money wasted on high performance, to instead hold more decent paying future tournaments where US players are given plenty of access, then we are on to something.

name me the top spanish prospects similar to the ( nadal, ferer, ferrero, verdasco lopez bunch ) ,,,,,, cough cough,,,,,, not much,,,,,,,, especially females they are in a drought. Our females especially Jr ITF are better.

As a "side job" I coach the local HS tennis team. Football, Basketball, Baseball, Soccer, Wrestling and Volleyball have (brief) Middle School seasons.

Not so for Tennis.

I get only the kids who don't like those other sports to tryout for the tennis team. Patrick McEnroe is correct. The USTA should work with high schools; not against us.

Jr. Team Tennis is a USTA program. It *does* help our high school teams ... but we still have to wait for a kid to decide he/she doesn't like soccer or baseball before we get them in the JTT program. It would be great if the USTA were more supportive of Elementary and Middle School tennis programs.

- KK

Click to expand...

KK where have you been

HS tennis coach here and I agree with Pat. The USTA just funded our elementary school and middle school courts. We are starting the programs and getting kids to start early and get them through the pip line to HS tennis. Problem is our local private tennis academies are selling a dream not to play HS tennis if they want to make it to D1, which is sad. I had two top players fall for the snake oil only to come back and play for my team and do well which gave one of them an edge to get into Yale.

Not sure it is the prize money at the top. In fact, that makes more chase the prize. The Lotto hits $300 million and many more play it. Make it $1 million to 300 people.....fewer would play. I saw a good increase of girls coming to lessons when it was first reported Sharapova was making $25 mil in endorsements after her Wimbledon win at age 17.

Now if you want to say the USTA should use the crazy salaries it pays to many worthless people, and money wasted on high performance, to instead hold more decent paying future tournaments where US players are given plenty of access, then we are on to something.

Click to expand...

How about the fact that the USTA funds 16 separate sections with buildings, rent, utilities, and staffs- all to the tune of 40 million + annually. Is this really necessary? I agree with your comment on a professional futures circuit for young American pros with decent prize money. I think that would be a big boost for American tennis. Didn't this exist at one time??

How about the fact that the USTA funds 16 separate sections with buildings, rent, utilities, and staffs- all to the tune of 40 million + annually. Is this really necessary? I agree with your comment on a professional futures circuit for young American pros with decent prize money. I think that would be a big boost for American tennis. Didn't this exist at one time??

Click to expand...

I think you are right, back in the day there was more of a structure for futures. Also I think there were more US based ITFs. More funds going into that level of tennis would be great for the game.

The main issue is work ethic and age at when they start playing. If you look at the top European guys they start playing when their 3 or 4. Americans on average start at around 8-10. The second thing is work ethic. The time spent practicing on the court and the pre-gym work out. For people who want to become pros they spend about 8 hours everyday for practice,stretches and workouts!! Americans usually don't even spend half the time! The reason Pete Sampras was so succesful was because he was originally Greek and he had the European work ethic in him. McCenroe and Connors worked EXTREMELY hard. mcCenroe said once in an interview as a junior sometimes he used to spend 6 to 7 hours on the court!! So when this improves America will get their new champion

The main issue is work ethic and age at when they start playing. If you look at the top European guys they start playing when their 3 or 4. Americans on average start at around 8-10. The second thing is work ethic. The time spent practicing on the court and the pre-gym work out. For people who want to become pros they spend about 8 hours everyday for practice,stretches and workouts!! Americans usually don't even spend half the time! The reason Pete Sampras was so succesful was because he was originally Greek and he had the European work ethic in him. McCenroe and Connors worked EXTREMELY hard. mcCenroe said once in an interview as a junior sometimes he used to spend 6 to 7 hours on the court!! So when this improves America will get their new champion

The reason Pete Sampras was so succesful was because he was originally Greek and he had the European work ethic in him.

Click to expand...

Hilarious! That famous Greek work ethic, which has transformed Greece into the economic powerhouse of Europe, nay, of the world! The land where people have a God-given right to retire at age 50 and live on the dole for the rest of their lives, and if anyone says otherwise, it is time for another riot.

The main issue is work ethic and age at when they start playing. If you look at the top European guys they start playing when their 3 or 4. Americans on average start at around 8-10. The second thing is work ethic. The time spent practicing on the court and the pre-gym work out. For people who want to become pros they spend about 8 hours everyday for practice,stretches and workouts!! Americans usually don't even spend half the time! The reason Pete Sampras was so succesful was because he was originally Greek and he had the European work ethic in him. McCenroe and Connors worked EXTREMELY hard. mcCenroe said once in an interview as a junior sometimes he used to spend 6 to 7 hours on the court!! So when this improves America will get their new champion

Click to expand...

Sorry but this post is so wrong about so many things. Just full of wrong information.

1. The Euros start later, many play soccer up until age 10-14, and practice less. A survey of top 100 players showed most spent less than 15 hours a week on tennis up to age 14.

2. There is zero advantage to starting a kid in tennis at age 3-4 vs 8-9. More likely will instead result in worse players, burned out players, injured players.

3. Sampras is an example of stars aligning. Found tennis racquet while a bored little kid on a rainy day and started hitting on his own, sister says he would excel at any sport they tried with him from age 5 so was a freak athlete from birth, met a great coach as a young kid, loved tennis from day 1 and was self motivated.

4. Johnny Mac was also playing other sports through his young years. Went to college. Was a freak in regards to hand eye coordination.

5. Johnny Mac has been yelling that tennis kids need MORE balance, other sports, and LESS court time. Thats why he opened his academy!

"The Academy has been built around McEnroe’s belief that a well-balanced life, one where kids participate in all sports, go to school, and then take up tennis, is what may work best."

Or we can go to John's own website for his academy and read his mission statement:

"John's passion and belief is that great players can be developed in urban settings, while still having the opportunity to live at home, pursue their educational goals, and participate in a variety of sports and extracurricular activities."

Sure all pros work very hard starting at age 15 up. But the idea that these guys lived for tennis from age 4 is total nonsense.

Hilarious! That famous Greek work ethic, which has transformed Greece into the economic powerhouse of Europe, nay, of the world! The land where people have a God-given right to retire at age 50 and live on the dole for the rest of their lives, and if anyone says otherwise, it is time for another riot.

PMac fed that reporter the USTA line that USTA creates champions, all the great champions (with the exception of Williams) pass through the USTA. Of course NO champions have been produced by USTA. Fanatical tennis families produce champions, usually the youngest kid becomes a great player. Roddick (youngest of three bros), the 2 Macs (2 youngest of three bros), Chang (youngest of 2 bros), Agassi (youngest of three kids), Evert (older bro John), etc etc. Or the kid is raised by tennis pro parent - Querrey (mom was pro), Young (both parents pros), Fish (father was pro), Sampras (Pete Fischer played that role), Connors (mother was fanatic), Tracy Austin (mother was pro, older brother), etc. There are some exceptions - Lindsay Davenport's parents didn't even attend some of her grand slam finals, no siblings as far as I can tell. But basically if you're going to be a pro in the US you need a) fanatical parent or b) older bros who play tennis. PMac and USTA are irrelevant.

Hilarious! That famous Greek work ethic, which has transformed Greece into the economic powerhouse of Europe, nay, of the world! The land where people have a God-given right to retire at age 50 and live on the dole for the rest of their lives, and if anyone says otherwise, it is time for another riot.

Click to expand...

Lol- yeah that was really a poor example. Pete Sampras undoubtedly worked hard to become a tennis star, but "famous Greek work ethic" ? You have got to be kidding me!

Two businesses AND coaching kinda kept me away. I'm not as regularly on TT as I used to be. Thanks for noticing.....

HS tennis coach here and I agree with Pat. The USTA just funded our elementary school and middle school courts. We are starting the programs and getting kids to start early and get them through the pip line to HS tennis.

Click to expand...

The USTA does seem to be making better moves these last few years. Good!

Problem is our local private tennis academies are selling a dream not to play HS tennis if they want to make it to D1, which is sad. I had two top players fall for the snake oil only to come back and play for my team and do well which gave one of them an edge to get into Yale.

Not to go off topic but many things in life we do not know the long term effect 100% we do our best with what we have. Our kids are the most precious and we do not know for sure what is %100 best for them in terms of education and what we are feeding them. For example I do not know the long term effect if I should homeschool my kid or not. or what am I putting in my kids mouth in terms of food, medication etc.....

Cool. I have no idea if I support them or not because I do not have any idea how their changes will play out long term. Will TAUT make tennis like ping pong or dodge ball? Or will it grow the base of serious players? Will the draw changes lead to epic local play? Or will the changes gradually marginalize tennis to many tennis families? Will high performance in its 4th regime ever reach its goal of a champion?

Hard to say if you support things we have no idea will be great, mediocre, or terrible in the long run.

Click to expand...

Yeah, but intrepid, anonymous souls on message boards like to do things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard.

If, in fact, it is hard for us to support or not support a given policy.....maybe we (all of us, not addressed to you specifically) should have more consideration and tolerance for the people who have to make real decisions about these things.

Because it is hard, here is where I stand on the issues noted above.....with only a little fluff added.

1. TAUT. Heartily support this concept

2. Forcing more competition at the Sectional level, reducing slots at Nationals. Support this concept.....open for debate on what the exact numbers and formulas should be. But support the general concept

3. High performance (This is Player Development, right?) Nice idea. doesn't work. Provide resources that are kept in the individuals' hands to be utilized at the individuals' discretion--with reasonable conditions and limitations of course--instead of at the centralized organization's discretion.

The main issue is work ethic and age at when they start playing. If you look at the top European guys they start playing when their 3 or 4. Americans on average start at around 8-10. The second thing is work ethic. The time spent practicing on the court and the pre-gym work out. For people who want to become pros they spend about 8 hours everyday for practice,stretches and workouts!! Americans usually don't even spend half the time! The reason Pete Sampras was so succesful was because he was originally Greek and he had the European work ethic in him. McCenroe and Connors worked EXTREMELY hard. mcCenroe said once in an interview as a junior sometimes he used to spend 6 to 7 hours on the court!! So when this improves America will get their new champion

Click to expand...

That's not true. i grew up with john mcenroe and john's high school year were spent being on the HS soccer team and spending 2 hours commuting to and from school and going to a very academically tough school. John practiced maybe 6-7 hrs a week.

The main issue is work ethic and age at when they start playing. If you look at the top European guys they start playing when their 3 or 4. Americans on average start at around 8-10. The second thing is work ethic. The time spent practicing on the court and the pre-gym work out. For people who want to become pros they spend about 8 hours everyday for practice,stretches and workouts!! Americans usually don't even spend half the time! The reason Pete Sampras was so succesful was because he was originally Greek and he had the European work ethic in him. McCenroe and Connors worked EXTREMELY hard. mcCenroe said once in an interview as a junior sometimes he used to spend 6 to 7 hours on the court!! So when this improves America will get their new champion

Click to expand...

If you look at the European tennis guys, most have completed only secondary school (grade 10), so they are technically high-school dropouts from a US perspective. Many of them also try to come to the US for college. What are the failed tennis guys with a grade 10 education doing in Europe?

Sometimes you will hear that so and so is pursuing a college degree. In many countries, there are degrees which are pretty easy to get - no attendance requirements, just read the books and show up for the exam. The college experience in the US is much more rigorous.

JMac was actually not noted for being keen on fitness workouts apart from tennis itself. The fitness work escalated after he retired!